What Separates Me and You

Josephine slowly opened her eyes and saw Lewis sleeping beside her, still in the same clothes. "How unhygienic!" she thought, "He didn't even change." Josephine pushed him, and his eyes flew open almost immediately. He stared at Josephine for several seconds.

"What's wrong?" His voice was raspy from sleep, somewhat seductive to the ears when paired with his sonorous voice.

Josephine didn't know any better, but her ears were tingling. Touching her ears, she said, "I'm hungry."

Lewis sat upright in bed, picked up the phone, and called the extension number, asking Mrs. Larson to send food to the bedroom. Soon, Mrs. Larson came with a bowl of oatmeal and pastries. Josephine clambered up from bed, looked at her hands, and showed them to Lewis. "Wash hands."

Lewis pondered for several seconds before getting out of bed and carrying her to the bathroom to wash up. She solemnly scrubbed her hands, as serious as a student listening earnestly in class. Lewis stood behind her, staring at her reflection with mixed emotions.

After washing her hands, she rinsed her mouth before returning to her meal in the bedroom. She didn't spare the oatmeal a glance; she promptly grabbed a pastry and started eating, aiming for those with delicate appearances.

Lewis was in a black shirt with the two topmost buttons unbuttoned. He sat before her as he watched her eat. She only had eyes for food and animation now, nothing else. Even when she looked at him, her eyes were as innocent as a deer's. To her, he was a stranger-or perhaps just another acquaintance. She felt nothing else for him.

Josephine looked at him halfway through her meal and thought he wanted to have some as he kept staring at her. After giving it some thought, she held out the pastry to him. "Do you want some?" Lewis glanced at it and shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Go on, take it! This is your reward!" said Josephine, displaying her generosity as he would be her subordinate hereafter. She must treat him well, naturally.

Lewis peered at her, taking in her ingenuous eyes and hand that stubbornly remained stretched before him. He reached out with his slender hand and took the tart she offered, giving it a bite under her keen stare.

"Is it nice?"

Lewis pressed his lips together as he swallowed the oversweet pastry with difficulty. Then, he nodded. "It is."

Josephine grinned at him and continued with the rest.

Lewis held the remaining half of the pastry, shooting glance after glance at it before sneaking it into the trash can beneath the table where Josephine couldn't see. Josephine finished even the oatmeal and felt satiated. Burping, she placed her bowl down. "I'm done eating."

Lewis hummed in acknowledgment and took her to the bathroom for a bath. Josephine sat on the stool in the bathroom, enjoying his service. He helped her wash her hair and body. He was familiar with the steps, and Josephine was ever the more pleased with her bodyguard cum nanny. It would've been better if his fingers weren't calloused.

Lewis took a towel and started drying her hair as Josephine looked up at him, noticing that he looked vexed.

Josephine thought about it and reached out to grab the towel from him. "I'll do it myself."

Lewis lowered his eyes, hesitating for several seconds before letting go.

Josephine clumsily rubbed her hair dry, but Lewis still looked peeved. The way he looked at her gave Josephine the illusion that she was a tasty ice cream he hoped to take a bite of. Josephine was slightly wary. Then, she dismissed the thought and continued drying her hair. After that, she handed him the towel, her hair akin to a bird's nest.

Lewis took it and wrapped a bath towel around her before helping her to blow-dry her hair. The warm wind from the hair dryer caused Josephine to feel drowsy. She felt the urge to sleep again.

Ten minutes later, Lewis carried her out of the bathroom with her head nodding off to sleep. But Lewis couldn't fall asleep anymore. He had endured unprecedented torment from the minute they entered the bathroom until now. Gazing at the woman, sound asleep beside him, he shut his eyes, inhaled deeply, and switched off the lamp.

The next day, Lewis went to the office. It was noon when Josephine woke up. Mrs. Larson brought her meal to the bedroom, waiting on her as she said, "Mr. Alvarez has gone to work. He'll probably be back at night."

"Oh." Josephine used her fork to stab a piece of chicken breast and delivered it to her mouth. She wasn't at all interested in where Lewis was. The only thought that crossed her mind was the possibility of secretly eating two more ice creams when he wasn't around.

However, Lewis seemed to have foreseen her thought. Mrs. Larson gave her only one ice cream even though Lewis wasn't there, and only after she took her medication.

After her meal, she planned to go back to bed but was temporarily unable to sleep. Therefore, she started rummaging through the cabinets and found a cell phone in a drawer. She picked it up and unlocked it with her fingerprint. To her dismay, it had only five percent of the battery left. Josephine found a phone charger. Plugging it in, she lay on the bed and fiddled with it.

Nothing was entertaining on the phone, so she proceeded to click open the photo gallery. To her surprise, she discovered many photos of herself. There were also several of Lewis, all taken without him knowing. Josephine kept scrolling and came to two videos.

She played one that was three hours long. She and Lewis were both in it. As the video went on, Josephine's eyes widened as she remembered nothing of what had happened. What game was she and Lewis playing? It looked fun.

Josephine finished the video and clicked on the replay button. She could hear clearly every bit of sound that came from the video. Mrs. Larson entered at that moment. Upon seeing the content of the video, she silently left.

Josephine lost interest in it after watching it twice. She got off the bed and rummaged through the drawers once again, hauling plenty of photos from them-photo stickers of her and Lewis. She scrutinized them, and her astonishment grew by the minute. Why didn't she remember any of these? She couldn't recall when she took these photos with Lewis. Were they used to be so close before this? The things she found could have left such an impression on her that she went sleepless throughout the afternoon.

When Lewis returned, Josephine was sitting on the bed with her legs folded. A spread of assorted items lay on the bed before her. He walked up to her, picking up a photo to take a look. "Where did you find these?"

Josephine pointed at the drawer. "Over there."

Lewis glanced at where she pointed and showed no response. He asked, "Did these remind you of anything?"

Josephine blankly shook her head.

But she remembered something else. She picked up the phone and handed it to Lewis. "Why aren't you playing this game with me anymore?"

Lewis looked at her suspiciously. "What game?"

With the phone in one hand, Josephine patted the bed with the other, signaling Lewis to have a seat.

After Lewis sat, she unlocked the phone and showed him the video. "This one."

Lewis' gaze fell on the video, and the look in his eyes slowly changed.